I live and work in Italy. The video confirms this : there are few things Italians take seriously. Motorcycles is one of them. Brilliant job, sir. Regards from Reggio Calabria 🇮🇹
I love Italy if I didn't live in the UK, I would live in Italy. A Beautiful Country. I wonder if you would do me a great favour can you ship me a cheap MV Augusta must be in nice like new condition. Many thanks.
Your right about the Darmah....what a Styling job that was....totally stunning in every way....used to sit on a corner where I lived in 79 waiting for a guy on a one to ride past as he did most nights....what a thrill to see and hear it accelerate away.
lol, i think most of us will have had those drooling moments with some bikes :-) a time when design was the king. i still remember one of my brothers mates turning up on a blacked out Le Mans 3 with a Ferrari red tank when i was a wee nipper 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend
Had a 1978 Moriwaki 1135 Z1r with triangulated braced frame.. ported big valve head & blueprinted.. 125hp on the Dyno.. my biggest regret selling that glorious machine.. biggest mistake was a SSD900 race kitted.. horrible on the road & destroyed clutches on the track
Glad you mentioned the Monster, I have had 1999 M900 for some years and can confirm it's well made and reliable but has some foibles. Absolutely fantastic on the open road but awful in traffic or town, great handling and sounds glorious.
i remember one session at Cadwell, I was on the Laverda and there was a guy on a Monster with Termi's too, none of the other bikes came close on the soundporn battle 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc Been to Cadwell a number of times witha pal who raced a Goldstar. I remember going there with my Dad as a boy and standing right next to Agostini's MV. Mechanics warmed it up then he came out and won the race.
I remember seeing the Monster for the first time after fueling up many years ago. Really nice looking bike and when the guy started it and I heard that nice deep exhaust I wanted one but unfortunately it was out of my price range then. Ten years ago I ended up buying an Aprilia Shiver 750 and later found out it was designed by the same guy who designed the Monster I saw that night. The Shiver wasn't as successful for Aprilia as the Monster was for Ducati but still did ok.
Love em...gorgeous fire breathing beasts...unfortunately a lot of guys over here🇦🇺 crashed them coz speed was deceptive, they'd go into corners too fast and run out of road..had a 1000 and two 1200's...you had to pick a line and power through, they handled well if you knew how, strange thing was they all handled differently, Ceriani forks were very different to the later Marzochi's 👍
I'm very happy to find a channel that actually thinks outside the cliche bikes. I personally like the bikes which aren't necessarily good or best but different. Looking forward watching rest of your videos North Wales MC
Bought a 77 SSD900 from Aus in 85.. had been used in modified production racing & unbeknown to me when I bought it had setup with over size dellortos, high comp Omega pistons & hot-ish cams.. was a pig to ride on the road & the couple of times I track rode it it blew the clutch up, thats when I was told of the magic it had inside.. I sold it at a give away price to the engine builder that had it for the clutch job.. we all have regrets.. loving the channel 👌 from NZ
I own a 1980 Benelli 900 Sei, I bought it in 1986 when I traded in my 1980 Laverda 1200T, the Laverda was a great machine to ride but everything about it was heavy, the controls were heavy to operate, the fuel consumption was heavy at 27 to 30 mpg, the whole plot was top heavy with that tall three cylinder engine and lofty seat. I've never had so much fun riding any other motorcycle that I've owned as I did on that big Laverda and the off beat sound of that 180 degree motor was spell binding. The Benelli is so different to the Laverda, it is more refined in it's power delivery, the handling is superior to the Laverda, the Sei belies it's wide motor and handles as though it is on rails. The Benelli gives around 45 mpg, so it isn't a thirsty as the Laverda. Two Italian motorcycles that are totally different to each other, but they are both a joy to own and ride.
i did always prefer the Laverda twins to the triples but it would get boring if we all thought the same :-) and yes, the Sei is a stunning motorcycle. i think of the 2 the 750 is the Sei i would go for 🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Great viewing, excellent refresher..., rode a couple of Laverda 1200's and an SF2 across the Nullabor many times here in 🇦🇺 booked for doing 200 kph on my first 1200 🎶...she'd do about 220 flat out... Nullabor is a ong straight road, no intersection for hundreds of k's... perfect bike for doing the twisties on The Great Ocean Road...215,000 kilometers with one change of piston rings at 180k and a few primary chains all up...fantastic engines that loved a good thrashing no matter what the knocker's said, open country roads made a difference of course ✌🌏
🙂Cheers for watching mate , I finally got an SF2 ish a few years back, in boxes of oily bits that hadnt been on the road since 79, its nearly there. its taken too long this one lol ride free
Have to agree with all the bikes shown. Beautiful bikes. One thing in Italy was all the parts manufacturers. Marzochi. Ceriani . Grimica. Borrani. I have a few fantic bikes and love them. Did have a 250 Desmo as a lad.
possibly at some point but i cant promise when mate, that would take more research, but as you say some stunning bikes. cheers for watching, enjoy the ride 🙂
All these bikes, except for the Tesi, I have seen up close and personal. I was 16 years old and had just earned my motorcycle driver's license. I had to settle for a cheaper Japanese issue, as most of all the ladies of your video were too expensive for my teen's budget. A fantastic trip to memory lane!
Some of the greatest emotions in my opinion. Whenever possible go to northern italy to feel it all. The roads an landscape and people, where they were developed by passionate engineers whos ancestors already built cathedrals and machinery at the edge of madness for their time. Would mention the RXV 550 which is what I always wanted if they only could have got it a litle more robust .........they reached for it !
@@barebonesmc If somebody would deliver the cut in half superbike(100kg , 100hp) with decent offroad suspension bones , the rallytank would a solvable task.
some lovely examples, especially the Ducati monsters, which I have not seen for a very long time now, funny how some Italian machines sound so much more different than their rivals
When I gave back my unlucky Ducati 500 Sport Desmo to the local dealer, it was for a fantastic new black second series Ducati 900 SD Darmah, with gold Speedline wheels. It seems like the one you drive in the video, a pity it is not shown a more accurate way. The main difference from the red version, too shown in this video is the shape of the tail, rounded, more modern and openable without the need of removing the seat to have a handy and bigger place to put gloves in, goggles and maybe a sandwich as well. Anyway in its black livery there was no confrontation with the red one: its beauty was simply astounding It was explosive in all its shine and anyone saw the bike pass could not do anything else than remain staring with open wide eyes and mouth drooling. With Conti exhausts it was a wild beast, and when equipped with 40mm Dell'orto PHF carburettors instead of the 32 mm first equipment a 900 SS engine was obtained, on a bike more designed to have comfort from the purest breed sportster, even for two persons. Its torque teared your arms, transmission and tyres too, but what an incomparable feeling! Here the Ducati L engine was nicknamed "Il Pompone", a derivation from the Italian for pump, such was its unbelievable brute force torque. All The Ducati 900's frames were a project of Colin Seeley, and fastly became synonymous of handling and even more for its unassailable stability, way beyond any other bike then and maybe even now, despite it was made of metal tubes instead of aluminium diamond shapes, deltaboxes and so on. Anyway it requested powerful arms to be tamed, but when driving with a Randy Mamola like style (ass inside) no bike could stay behind on fast bends. One day the proud owner of a new, fast on straights, Suzuki 1100 almost hit the rail at high speed when tried. A lesson he has never forgot, I am sure. The Darmah hated the traffic of the city, first gear was too long as for any racing gearing, but could carry the driver and a passenger cornering at 200 kph in perfect safety and souplesse, running on 120/80 back tyres. Even in such conditions one could drive with one hand only, keeping the same safety level anyway. It was not the fastest of the 900's, but the sensations it could give are still unequalled. Opening the throttle in any gear would cause a response that was the most exciting, with the solidest and unstoppable push until the red line. The noise was beautiful: strong, deep and powerful. The modern Ducati's one seem of a toy bike in confrontation. Later I had also a second Darmah, it was a special made by the Rome Dealer CVM, with a "cupolino" that was resembling more like a half fairing. Its engine run up to 9500 rpm with an unbelievable roar and power. It had been modded by Franco Lenci, a true legend here, who was the only one really able to work on Ducati's. He is old now, but his shop is still open, a must for any Ducati owner who has real care of his bike.
Great story. Colin Seeley was a genius, i didnt know his connection to Ducati, I thought all the ideas for their frame came from verlicci, where are you? 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc Hi, I am from Rome, Italy, now I live about 50 kms north of there. By the way the brand which manifactured the frames is Verlicchi, pronounced Verlikki. Excellent videos, hope you will continue in this way. All the best.
Hi, i own a 95 Elefant E750LE. I bought it about 20 years ago. I am now looking to buy a 650 Elefant lucky explorer. My dad also owns a 98 E750LE as well. It has done just over 12,500 km now. Lovely machines. I also own a 2004 Caponord Rally Raid with 10k miles on the clock. It's a great bike that eats up the miles, and is comfortable too. Great vid by the way.
As important as the Guzzi 750S and S3 were to the 850 Le Mans, there was a massive gap between the lot of them and one bike in particular meant even more to it than the both of them! Now, the 750S was really no more than a V7 Sport with dual discs - the US never did get this model in name (or the S3), but the Sports we did get in 74’ were essentially S’s rebadged. Aesthetically, they are iconic. So much so that Guzzi has not once, but twice repurposed the color scheme with the 1000S and in the newer small block V7 series. I’ve heard from sources near to the factory that it was inspired by the shadows cast by power lines! The S3’s were quite different machines by comparison. Sharing the toned down cam and ignition from the touring T3 on the performance side and featured some cost cutting points on the aesthetic side - mostly minor things, but obvious signs of new ownership under DeTomaso. Rightfully so, DeTomaso set his sights on the future - and the future was the multi-cylinder in-line engine. He infamously closed the Guzzi race shop and set the V twin far away on the back burner. He went so far as to send Guzzi’s lead engineer, Lino Tonti, to Benelli to resolve the SEI production problem - and its failure on the market forced DeTomaso to turn to Guzzi and they had an instant classic already chambered… The remnant of Guzzi’s race department had the 850 Le Mans well in mind for quite some time before its release in 1976. There are even illustrations of the “VB” Le Mans to be found on the web - and I’m not entirely sure of what that even is in truth - as well as some bikes even featuring VB stampings on their engine casings! Possibly old stock repurposed? Who knows! Ultimately, the 850 Le Mans was born of the SEI’s commercial failure and of the potential found by the race dept. in the V7 Sports raced in the Bol d’Or. The 850 LM is the natural successor to the S and S3 indeed, but there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears in between!! Who would’ve thought Italians could be so hot-blooded and dramatic?
that sounds like a voice with much more experience of Guzzi's than me 🙂 as ive said before, if we could harness the combined knowledge of all of the subscribers we would have the ultimate motorcycle encyclopedia 🙂 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂
glad you enjoyed it mate 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel, hope you will look around and find something your interested in. there is more on the website too. and there will be more to come. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
Very nice! glad you enjoyed the video too, there is another Italian only special here ruclips.net/video/9frunVVZcHI/видео.html just dont give me any more stress on the MGS01 footage lol, i really struggled so I cheated a bit lol
🙂 cheers for watching mate youll see footage of my Zane era Laverda in some of the videos, my early SF2 750 has been a long hard road, it arrived as a pile of oily boxes that hadnt been run since 79, its nearly finished now 🙂 Ride Free
Great video, really good way of explaining to us more about Italian supermodels we dont have chance to see often. A question, what do you think about new Benelli? And do they have same fate as new Jawa?
from new the Benellis seem ok, but have heard moans about corrosion, but the 502X has become the best selling bike in Italy already so they cant be that bad, i like the 752, but the concept version was so much better 🙂 cheers for watching mate 🙂 Ride Free
A few that slipped through my hands on that list, test rode the elefant 900ie , wanted a tornado, thought the Darmah was a beautiful machine, but had many Dukes including a 888 a 907ie Paso, 900 superlight, Guzzi 1000S got to love the Italians (never fitted on a Monster 🤔)
I've never ridden a Tornado or a Sei, but for my taste I'd much prefer the well-balanced twin. But from the perspective of the "supermodels" theme (which I think turned out to be a bit misleading) I don't see how you could rate the Tornado above a Sei, thus my "quirky" comment. It's great to see some of the "bridesmaids" like the Tornado, Monty, Darmah and Guzzi 750S get some love.
the thumbnails are still eveolving mate :-) harsh calling them bridesmaids though lol biggest isnt always best, few supermodels are built like page 3 girls 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free
Superb video, you've absolutely captured the essence of Italian bikes & why the cognoscenti love them. Hope you feature my bike in a future video - Moto Guzzi Griso 1200SE.
I wonder what bixe are under the covers in the Moto Guzzi owner's garage at 7:46 ish? Regarding the Ducati Monster design it's obvious that Suzuki liked it as they pretty much copied it for the SV650!
I love the Monsters the bare bones look and feel nothing on it you don't need, good performance great handling and brembo brakes and a riding position that you can do a lot of K's /miles on and I have three Monsters a 95 600, 97 750 and a 97 900
I had thought the YB1 came first, but apparently "The SB2 was the first street bike Bimota produced and followed on from the track only SB1. Created at the request of Suzuki Italy only 200 frames were built and of this only 140 became motorcycles." and i know Tamburini did like the GSXR andTL engines.
The MV Agusta 750 did make it to Australia because l was a telegram boy in Sydney and l saw one parked and l just stood their and admired it and that footage of the MV Agusta was around Pyremont Sydney and the other motorcycles fine ltalian machines
@@barebonesmc l have never riden an ltalian motorcycle but l have admired them there is a sane about Ducati owners turning motorcyclelist into mechanics for years
@@barebonesmc l am fortunate to be old enough to live through the 1970s and 1980s the peak of motorcycling in Australia and we got Japanese European and British motorcycles
@@lesklower7281 me too mate, thats pretty much how i introduced myself in the terrifying bikes video 🙂 i feel privelidged to have lived through it all 🙂 Cheers for watching , ride free
I have no real complaint about any of the bikes you chose, but leaving off a Laverda 180 triple and Moto Morini 3-1/2 drum-baked Sport is very sad, and choosing the Benelli Tornado over a Sei is quirky at best.
I like to throw a curved ball in :-) the Laverda one is a hard one, personally i would put the SFC first, with the other 750's, that way I could have included mine, but im biased. then we have the V6 which I could have put in even though it didnt really make production, of the triples we have plenty of videos everywhere already, and i just like to do things differently. I often highlight the smaller bikes. as always i have to stop somewhere. Morini do get a mention in part 2, but obviously not for the early V Twins. cheers for watching mate. and sorry, there are always some omissions. or i would be here till next year, ride free
I have ridden a Benelli Tornado and it is extremely underrated. It is every bit an Italian sport bike and, the red one in particular is a work of art and craftsmanship.
Wow...great video! I actually owned a couple of these, in the day, and I have some fond memories...kind of like my ex-wife, who was a ballerina with great boobs (rare, that). Like so many things Italian, she was a great ride but high maintenance and tempreramental. Loved the MV, but there were absolutely NO parts in the USA. At the time I bought it, it did not run...and it was cheap (about $3000 if my old memory is right...which sounds quite cheap now but would have bought a really nice R90S at the time, with money left over...and the R90S would have run forever). I got it running and even found an electronic ignition that worked with a bit of fiddling. In the end I'd had to replace ALL the switchgear with Suzuki parts that were decidedly more water-resistant. I still have a Goose, a massively-modded 850 LeMans that's now a 1000 with only a few original parts. I've had it since the 1980s and would never part with it...which is good, since no sane person would buy it. I built it up when I owned half of a dealership that sold Guzzis, and I even got a bunch of weird stuff from a couple trips to the factory. I still have some parts from a Duke 750 Desmo project bike I had. It had a "birdcage" frame made by Colin Seeley and weighed just under 300 pounds. It was fast, smooth and handled fabulously...but it required a ton of maintenance and stuff always seemed to be not-quite-right. I traded it straight-up for a Honda CBX with a Rickman frame. I was told it was the only one ever made, but I was never able to verify that. I did get a chance to ride it against LJK Setright on his Seeley-framed CBX. Dunno who was the better rider, but I just walked away from him in the hills outside Austin (Tx), and mine had a 6-into-1 enhaust that made better sounds. Seems like yesterday...but it was about 40 years ago. I miss guys like him and my old friend Henry Manney of Road and Track. They ain't making 'em like that no more, and the world's a poorer place for it. Keep the faith.
Ducati Monster 900...yes. My one has 110K on the clock but the engine and g/box were rebuilt about 50K ago. So far so good! Unfortunately the electric system (wiring/connectors/joints/earthing points) are showing their age. Ducati: making Electricians/Mechanics out of Riders since 1946 😂
Think that the modern MV factory have a more than legitimate claim to exploit the Elefant name. Essentially its the same company operating out of the same Varese factory ,yes we can get into a discussion about the fact the Castiglioni involvement is unfortunately no more and also whether these new Elefants are deserving of the name . However MV do still own the Cagiva name and have teased a revival of it on electric vehicles a few years ago ... i know we are still waiting😒. It was Badge engineering ...a business decision, Castiglioni took the decision that MV was a more prestigious a name to have on the side of his tanks . Have also always thought that the Castiglioni's and Cagiva never receive(d) the recognition they deserve for the modern revival of Ducati which they orchestrated with the 916 etc. You could include in your list the Cagiva Mito .. and why no Aprilia's, hopefully some on your next video? Enjoying the content on your channel . Regards
The Aprilias are coming 🙂 98 on was their decade i think 🙂 as to Cagiva and MV, you do know theres a court case for unpaid debts to both brothers and much more going on, theres 2 KTM/MV videos if your interested. there are no MV's and wont be for at least a while, if ever again. and the only lucky explorers built were to take around the shows, dealers have all been cut off and KTM dont know WTF to do anymore with the mess. With a convicted fraudster on the board there was always going to be hidden problems, but its a mess, luckily we did help getting one guys deposit back
@@barebonesmc Looking forward to the Aprilia's 😀. I did see your excellent upload on the MV saga . The Castiglioni brothers Claudio and Gianfranco are sadly no longer with us .. is the money owed to Giovanni former MV/Cagiva CEO and son of Claudio and the rest of the family? The story of some Italian motorcycle companies is so complicated with boom bust and business chicanery etc that often you could not make some of the stuff up. I did meet Carl Fogarty a few years ago and asked him what the Castiglioni's were like to work with and recently asked the same question to John Kocinski , when I met him very briefly , they both only had positive things to say .I hope the company can survive . By the way MV are still competing and doing very well in the supersport class in WSBK managing two bikes on the podium last week !
@@crete9699 the team in supersport arent actually run by the factory from what i understand, yes its good its still going, and not as disjointed as the Moto 2 debacle, but for how long who knows. being honest i have never heard much bad said aboout the Castiglioni's. i might not have agreed with many decisions , but they had passion for sure, and thats more than you see in most companies now. from what i understand yes, the money is owed to the families. very specifically to Claudios family for use of his name on the F4 special, the Giovanni debt is not as easy to get info about and it seems a bit convoluted. Cheers for watching mate and welcome aboard
I do like Italian bikes but here in the States, dealerships are few & very far between. Most are from 180 to 400 & upward in miles apart. There's no good dispersion of dealerships that's convenient in any State. And they've closed a lot in the last 7 years. not only Italian bikes but other brands as well. You need some volume on the bikes exhaust notes. All I hear is a little kackle, very little.
Dealerships are getting fewer, bigger and more like car showrooms here too, and re the bikes, it is always a balance, i do my best 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
I live and work in Italy. The video confirms this : there are few things Italians take seriously. Motorcycles is one of them. Brilliant job, sir. Regards from Reggio Calabria 🇮🇹
🙂 cheers for watching mate and welcome aboard :-) Im a long suffering Laverda and Cagiva owner lol 🙂 Ride Free
I love Italy if I didn't live in the UK, I would live in Italy.
A Beautiful Country.
I wonder if you would do me a great favour can you ship me a cheap MV Augusta must be in nice like new condition.
Many thanks.
Giacomo Agostini is my hero, may he live forever.
@@philipbooth7779 hes doing pretty well at that 🙂 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free
@@barebonesmc I don't have to ride safe I don't have a bike haven't had for ten years.
Sold it to pay off my mortgage.
Your right about the Darmah....what a Styling job that was....totally stunning in every way....used to sit on a corner where I lived in 79 waiting for a guy on a one to ride past as he did most nights....what a thrill to see and hear it accelerate away.
lol, i think most of us will have had those drooling moments with some bikes :-) a time when design was the king. i still remember one of my brothers mates turning up on a blacked out Le Mans 3 with a Ferrari red tank when i was a wee nipper 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend
Had a 1978 Moriwaki 1135 Z1r with triangulated braced frame.. ported big valve head & blueprinted.. 125hp on the Dyno.. my biggest regret selling that glorious machine.. biggest mistake was a SSD900 race kitted.. horrible on the road & destroyed clutches on the track
That blue and white Monster is a _monster!_ 😎👍🏻
it is, but that Laverda would be my pick i think🙂🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
I miss our old Benelli Tornado - thank you for including it in your list!
🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Glad you mentioned the Monster, I have had 1999 M900 for some years and can confirm it's well made and reliable but has some foibles. Absolutely fantastic on the open road but awful in traffic or town, great handling and sounds glorious.
i remember one session at Cadwell, I was on the Laverda and there was a guy on a Monster with Termi's too, none of the other bikes came close on the soundporn battle 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc Been to Cadwell a number of times witha pal who raced a Goldstar. I remember going there with my Dad as a boy and standing right next to Agostini's MV. Mechanics warmed it up then he came out and won the race.
glad it jogged some good memories mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I restored a 78 T-850 I liked the bike so much,in 93 I purchased a new Cal.3. Rode that bike across America 2 times, and many more shorter trips.
Cheers for watching and the comment mate, Ride Free
I remember seeing the Monster for the first time after fueling up many years ago. Really nice looking bike and when the guy started it and I heard that nice deep exhaust I wanted one but unfortunately it was out of my price range then. Ten years ago I ended up buying an Aprilia Shiver 750 and later found out it was designed by the same guy who designed the Monster I saw that night. The Shiver wasn't as successful for Aprilia as the Monster was for Ducati but still did ok.
a damn good and underrated bike. i do like the Dorsa best tho 🙂 🙂Cheers for watching mate , ride free
I've owned a 900 Darmah, hard bike to get used to after being on Japanese bikes, but loved it.
I do just think it has fantastic lines. it looks like a motorbike should look, 🙂 Cheers for watching mate, ride free
Your videos are addictive
lol, cheers mate, ill take that as a complement 🙂
I had a Laverda Jota back in the 80s now riding an MV Agusta brutale 800.
nice bikes mate 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free
Love em...gorgeous fire breathing beasts...unfortunately a lot of guys over here🇦🇺 crashed them coz speed was deceptive, they'd go into corners too fast and run out of road..had a 1000 and two 1200's...you had to pick a line and power through, they handled well if you knew how, strange thing was they all handled differently, Ceriani forks were very different to the later Marzochi's 👍
I'm very happy to find a channel that actually thinks outside the cliche bikes. I personally like the bikes which aren't necessarily good or best but different. Looking forward watching rest of your videos North Wales MC
Bought a 77 SSD900 from Aus in 85.. had been used in modified production racing & unbeknown to me when I bought it had setup with over size dellortos, high comp Omega pistons & hot-ish cams.. was a pig to ride on the road & the couple of times I track rode it it blew the clutch up, thats when I was told of the magic it had inside.. I sold it at a give away price to the engine builder that had it for the clutch job.. we all have regrets.. loving the channel 👌 from NZ
wow, imagine that with a decent Barnett Clutch in, the Delortos are a pig to set up though 🙂 cheers for watching mate,have a good un
You picked quite a fine selection of bikes for this video. Always liked the Laverdas' aesthetics.
glad you enjoyed it mate, ive just put an SF2 back on the road, ruclips.net/video/tqQPNICah8g/видео.html 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I own a 1980 Benelli 900 Sei, I bought it in 1986 when I traded in my 1980 Laverda 1200T, the Laverda was a great machine to ride but everything about it was heavy, the controls were heavy to operate, the fuel consumption was heavy at 27 to 30 mpg, the whole plot was top heavy with that tall three cylinder engine and lofty seat. I've never had so much fun riding any other motorcycle that I've owned as I did on that big Laverda and the off beat sound of that 180 degree motor was spell binding.
The Benelli is so different to the Laverda, it is more refined in it's power delivery, the handling is superior to the Laverda, the Sei belies it's wide motor and handles as though it is on rails. The Benelli gives around 45 mpg, so it isn't a thirsty as the Laverda. Two Italian motorcycles that are totally different to each other, but they are both a joy to own and ride.
i did always prefer the Laverda twins to the triples but it would get boring if we all thought the same :-) and yes, the Sei is a stunning motorcycle. i think of the 2 the 750 is the Sei i would go for 🙂 cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
La MV Agusta en esos modelos de los 70, son una cosa impresionante y única, sobretodo en el motor, parece una máquina de otro planeta. HERMOSA.
They were. Personally I’d say the Gilera was actually a better engine in many ways though
Great viewing, excellent refresher..., rode a couple of Laverda 1200's and an SF2 across the Nullabor many times here in 🇦🇺 booked for doing 200 kph on my first 1200 🎶...she'd do about 220 flat out... Nullabor is a ong straight road, no intersection for hundreds of k's... perfect bike for doing the twisties on The Great Ocean Road...215,000 kilometers with one change of piston rings at 180k and a few primary chains all up...fantastic engines that loved a good thrashing no matter what the knocker's said, open country roads made a difference of course ✌🌏
🙂Cheers for watching mate , I finally got an SF2 ish a few years back, in boxes of oily bits that hadnt been on the road since 79, its nearly there. its taken too long this one lol ride free
Beautiful bikes, wonderful memories a DB1 needs to make it in part 2 for sure 😁👍
cheers mate, part 2 will be posted before the weekend is done :-) probably sunday now though 🙂 cheers for watching 🙂 Ride Free
Loved this so much 😊
Have to agree with all the bikes shown. Beautiful bikes. One thing in Italy was all the parts manufacturers. Marzochi. Ceriani . Grimica. Borrani. I have a few fantic bikes and love them. Did have a 250 Desmo as a lad.
cheers for watching, have a great day mate
Some lovely bikes here. Could you do an episode on the Italian bikes from pre war to the 60s? The style of those bike🤤
possibly at some point but i cant promise when mate, that would take more research, but as you say some stunning bikes. cheers for watching, enjoy the ride 🙂
Pre war bikes are 💋🤌🏻
@@sadwingsraging3044 they are indeed, more difficult to find good footage and real specs too, but i am looking at it as a long term project 🙂
All these bikes, except for the Tesi, I have seen up close and personal. I was 16 years old and had just earned my motorcycle driver's license. I had to settle for a cheaper Japanese issue, as most of all the ladies of your video were too expensive for my teen's budget.
A fantastic trip to memory lane!
glad it jogged some good memories mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
Some of the greatest emotions in my opinion.
Whenever possible go to northern italy to feel it all.
The roads an landscape and people, where they were developed by passionate engineers whos ancestors already built cathedrals and machinery at the edge of madness for their time. Would mention the RXV 550 which is what I always wanted if they only could have got it a litle more robust .........they reached for it !
indeed, that was a very special bike. I do love the Dorsa too just wish it had a bigger tank lol 🙂Cheers for watching mate, ride free
@@barebonesmc
If somebody would deliver the cut in half superbike(100kg , 100hp) with decent offroad suspension bones , the rallytank would a solvable task.
@@edivollgas719 id settle for 150kg plus fuel as long as it has a comfy pillion seat 🙂
1st rate ep! Really good content. The Laverda is the real jewel, but the Guzzi was practical and refined.
I struggled to not put my SF2 in but i think the Monty was the right choice 🙂 Cheers for watching mate, ride free
some lovely examples, especially the Ducati monsters, which I have not seen for a very long time now, funny how some Italian machines sound so much more different than their rivals
The dry clutch makes for a distinctive sound, especially with an open basket :-)
I love your channel
thanks for your support 🙂Cheers for the comment too mate. Ride Free 🙂
When I gave back my unlucky Ducati 500 Sport Desmo to the local dealer, it was for a fantastic new black second series Ducati 900 SD Darmah, with gold Speedline wheels. It seems like the one you drive in the video, a pity it is not shown a more accurate way. The main difference from the red version, too shown in this video is the shape of the tail, rounded, more modern and openable without the need of removing the seat to have a handy and bigger place to put gloves in, goggles and maybe a sandwich as well. Anyway in its black livery there was no confrontation with the red one: its beauty was simply astounding It was explosive in all its shine and anyone saw the bike pass could not do anything else than remain staring with open wide eyes and mouth drooling. With Conti exhausts it was a wild beast, and when equipped with 40mm Dell'orto PHF carburettors instead of the 32 mm first equipment a 900 SS engine was obtained, on a bike more designed to have comfort from the purest breed sportster, even for two persons. Its torque teared your arms, transmission and tyres too, but what an incomparable feeling! Here the Ducati L engine was nicknamed "Il Pompone", a derivation from the Italian for pump, such was its unbelievable brute force torque. All The Ducati 900's frames were a project of Colin Seeley, and fastly became synonymous of handling and even more for its unassailable stability, way beyond any other bike then and maybe even now, despite it was made of metal tubes instead of aluminium diamond shapes, deltaboxes and so on. Anyway it requested powerful arms to be tamed, but when driving with a Randy Mamola like style (ass inside) no bike could stay behind on fast bends. One day the proud owner of a new, fast on straights, Suzuki 1100 almost hit the rail at high speed when tried. A lesson he has never forgot, I am sure. The Darmah hated the traffic of the city, first gear was too long as for any racing gearing, but could carry the driver and a passenger cornering at 200 kph in perfect safety and souplesse, running on 120/80 back tyres. Even in such conditions one could drive with one hand only, keeping the same safety level anyway. It was not the fastest of the 900's, but the sensations it could give are still unequalled. Opening the throttle in any gear would cause a response that was the most exciting, with the solidest and unstoppable push until the red line. The noise was beautiful: strong, deep and powerful. The modern Ducati's one seem of a toy bike in confrontation. Later I had also a second Darmah, it was a special made by the Rome Dealer CVM, with a "cupolino" that was resembling more like a half fairing. Its engine run up to 9500 rpm with an unbelievable roar and power. It had been modded by Franco Lenci, a true legend here, who was the only one really able to work on Ducati's. He is old now, but his shop is still open, a must for any Ducati owner who has real care of his bike.
Great story. Colin Seeley was a genius, i didnt know his connection to Ducati, I thought all the ideas for their frame came from verlicci, where are you? 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
@@barebonesmc Hi, I am from Rome, Italy, now I live about 50 kms north of there. By the way the brand which manifactured the frames is Verlicchi, pronounced Verlikki. Excellent videos, hope you will continue in this way. All the best.
Welcome aboard mate, and thanks for correcting my pronunciation enjoy the ride and cheers for the support
Great video, looking forward to the next one. For what it’s worth I like a max on 30 minutes
me too mate, it just didnt seem right to cut this one up, but it was a nightmare to do lol 🙂 Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free
Hi, i own a 95 Elefant E750LE. I bought it about 20 years ago. I am now looking to buy a 650 Elefant lucky explorer. My dad also owns a 98 E750LE as well. It has done just over 12,500 km now. Lovely machines. I also own a 2004 Caponord Rally Raid with 10k miles on the clock. It's a great bike that eats up the miles, and is comfortable too. Great vid by the way.
glad you enjoyed it 🙂 cheers for watching mate 🙂 Ride Free
As important as the Guzzi 750S and S3 were to the 850 Le Mans, there was a massive gap between the lot of them and one bike in particular meant even more to it than the both of them!
Now, the 750S was really no more than a V7 Sport with dual discs - the US never did get this model in name (or the S3), but the Sports we did get in 74’ were essentially S’s rebadged.
Aesthetically, they are iconic. So much so that Guzzi has not once, but twice repurposed the color scheme with the 1000S and in the newer small block V7 series. I’ve heard from sources near to the factory that it was inspired by the shadows cast by power lines!
The S3’s were quite different machines by comparison. Sharing the toned down cam and ignition from the touring T3 on the performance side and featured some cost cutting points on the aesthetic side - mostly minor things, but obvious signs of new ownership under DeTomaso.
Rightfully so, DeTomaso set his sights on the future - and the future was the multi-cylinder in-line engine. He infamously closed the Guzzi race shop and set the V twin far away on the back burner. He went so far as to send Guzzi’s lead engineer, Lino Tonti, to Benelli to resolve the SEI production problem - and its failure on the market forced DeTomaso to turn to Guzzi and they had an instant classic already chambered…
The remnant of Guzzi’s race department had the 850 Le Mans well in mind for quite some time before its release in 1976. There are even illustrations of the “VB” Le Mans to be found on the web - and I’m not entirely sure of what that even is in truth - as well as some bikes even featuring VB stampings on their engine casings! Possibly old stock repurposed? Who knows!
Ultimately, the 850 Le Mans was born of the SEI’s commercial failure and of the potential found by the race dept. in the V7 Sports raced in the Bol d’Or. The 850 LM is the natural successor to the S and S3 indeed, but there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears in between!!
Who would’ve thought Italians could be so hot-blooded and dramatic?
that sounds like a voice with much more experience of Guzzi's than me 🙂 as ive said before, if we could harness the combined knowledge of all of the subscribers we would have the ultimate motorcycle encyclopedia 🙂 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂
the benelli is oje of the most beautiful bikes ever assembled
glad you enjoyed it mate 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel, hope you will look around and find something your interested in. there is more on the website too. and there will be more to come. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
Nice video. Never rode an Italian bike but thet are all good looking. Spotting a ME33 on the back of that MVsport. Keep it up
🙂Cheers for watching mate, ride free
Love it! I enjoy my 4 Guzzis…Spada 1000, LeMans 2, California 3 and a very nippy Monza 500 with a 750 Targa motor in it.
Very nice! glad you enjoyed the video too, there is another Italian only special here ruclips.net/video/9frunVVZcHI/видео.html just dont give me any more stress on the MGS01 footage lol, i really struggled so I cheated a bit lol
Nice. Really nice. Thanks for showing.
My neighbour owns a Laverda 750 race bike.
A real earth shaker. Beautiful and impressive bike.
🙂 cheers for watching mate youll see footage of my Zane era Laverda in some of the videos, my early SF2 750 has been a long hard road, it arrived as a pile of oily boxes that hadnt been run since 79, its nearly finished now 🙂 Ride Free
@@barebonesmc Wow, that has been a tall order for sure.
Very curious to see it brought to life again.
Much success and thanks for replying.
@@wolfdog7265 ill put it up when its finished :-) theres a story with some pics on the website if you are interested, have a good un
Great video, really good way of explaining to us more about Italian supermodels we dont have chance to see often. A question, what do you think about new Benelli? And do they have same fate as new Jawa?
from new the Benellis seem ok, but have heard moans about corrosion, but the 502X has become the best selling bike in Italy already so they cant be that bad, i like the 752, but the concept version was so much better 🙂 cheers for watching mate 🙂 Ride Free
A few that slipped through my hands on that list, test rode the elefant 900ie , wanted a tornado, thought the Darmah was a beautiful machine, but had many Dukes including a 888 a 907ie Paso, 900 superlight, Guzzi 1000S got to love the Italians (never fitted on a Monster 🤔)
🙂 Cheers for watching mate, the Tornado is my "one that got away" lol , ride free
Most excellent!
🙂 cheers for watching mate 🙂 Ride Free
I've never ridden a Tornado or a Sei, but for my taste I'd much prefer the well-balanced twin. But from the perspective of the "supermodels" theme (which I think turned out to be a bit misleading) I don't see how you could rate the Tornado above a Sei, thus my "quirky" comment. It's great to see some of the "bridesmaids" like the Tornado, Monty, Darmah and Guzzi 750S get some love.
the thumbnails are still eveolving mate :-) harsh calling them bridesmaids though lol biggest isnt always best, few supermodels are built like page 3 girls 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free
Fab stuff mate. Love it
🙂 Cheers for watching mate, glad you enjoyed it, ride free
Superb video, you've absolutely captured the essence of Italian bikes & why the cognoscenti love them. Hope you feature my bike in a future video - Moto Guzzi Griso 1200SE.
I do like the Griso :-) and hopefully youll enjoy part 2, it will be up tomorrow evening 🙂cheers for watching mate, ride free
Beautiful bikes!
🙂 Cheers for watching mate, ride free
I wonder what bixe are under the covers in the Moto Guzzi owner's garage at 7:46 ish? Regarding the Ducati Monster design it's obvious that Suzuki liked it as they pretty much copied it for the SV650!
who knows but it looks like an interesting garage :-)
VIVA Italia ❤ Viva Itali Moto Bike 🇮🇹🇮🇹💪💪🫶🫶👋👋🇨🇭
I love the Monsters the bare bones look and feel nothing on it you don't need, good performance great handling and brembo brakes and a riding position that you can do a lot of K's /miles on and I have three Monsters a 95 600, 97 750 and a 97 900
a nice collection mate 🙂 cheers for watching🙂 Ride Free
The monster is the best looking bike in history IMO
we all have our favourites mate 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment . have a great week🙂
The first Tesi have a 900ss/monster900 engine i think
I had thought the YB1 came first, but apparently "The SB2 was the first street bike Bimota produced and followed on from the track only SB1. Created at the request of Suzuki Italy only 200 frames were built and of this only 140 became motorcycles." and i know Tamburini did like the GSXR andTL engines.
The MV Agusta 750 did make it to Australia because l was a telegram boy in Sydney and l saw one parked and l just stood their and admired it and that footage of the MV Agusta was around Pyremont Sydney and the other motorcycles fine ltalian machines
🙂 Cheers for watching mate, hearing them in the flesh is fantastic,, I wish Id had chance to ride one, ride free
@@barebonesmc l have never riden an ltalian motorcycle but l have admired them there is a sane about Ducati owners turning motorcyclelist into mechanics for years
@@lesklower7281 lol, sounds about right 🙂
@@barebonesmc l am fortunate to be old enough to live through the 1970s and 1980s the peak of motorcycling in Australia and we got Japanese European and British motorcycles
@@lesklower7281 me too mate, thats pretty much how i introduced myself in the terrifying bikes video 🙂 i feel privelidged to have lived through it all 🙂 Cheers for watching , ride free
Morini 3 n 1/2 sport double drum...........rolling art
great bikes, I had to stop somewhere though mate 🙂 Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂
I have no real complaint about any of the bikes you chose, but leaving off a Laverda 180 triple and Moto Morini 3-1/2 drum-baked Sport is very sad, and choosing the Benelli Tornado over a Sei is quirky at best.
I like to throw a curved ball in :-) the Laverda one is a hard one, personally i would put the SFC first, with the other 750's, that way I could have included mine, but im biased. then we have the V6 which I could have put in even though it didnt really make production, of the triples we have plenty of videos everywhere already, and i just like to do things differently. I often highlight the smaller bikes. as always i have to stop somewhere. Morini do get a mention in part 2, but obviously not for the early V Twins. cheers for watching mate. and sorry, there are always some omissions. or i would be here till next year, ride free
@@barebonesmc Your channel, your choice! You did hint that that you were looking beyond the "no brainers" in a couple cases.
I have ridden a Benelli Tornado and it is extremely underrated. It is every bit an Italian sport bike and, the red one in particular is a work of art and craftsmanship.
Wow...great video! I actually owned a couple of these, in the day, and I have some fond memories...kind of like my ex-wife, who was a ballerina with great boobs (rare, that). Like so many things Italian, she was a great ride but high maintenance and tempreramental. Loved the MV, but there were absolutely NO parts in the USA. At the time I bought it, it did not run...and it was cheap (about $3000 if my old memory is right...which sounds quite cheap now but would have bought a really nice R90S at the time, with money left over...and the R90S would have run forever). I got it running and even found an electronic ignition that worked with a bit of fiddling. In the end I'd had to replace ALL the switchgear with Suzuki parts that were decidedly more water-resistant. I still have a Goose, a massively-modded 850 LeMans that's now a 1000 with only a few original parts. I've had it since the 1980s and would never part with it...which is good, since no sane person would buy it. I built it up when I owned half of a dealership that sold Guzzis, and I even got a bunch of weird stuff from a couple trips to the factory. I still have some parts from a Duke 750 Desmo project bike I had. It had a "birdcage" frame made by Colin Seeley and weighed just under 300 pounds. It was fast, smooth and handled fabulously...but it required a ton of maintenance and stuff always seemed to be not-quite-right. I traded it straight-up for a Honda CBX with a Rickman frame. I was told it was the only one ever made, but I was never able to verify that. I did get a chance to ride it against LJK Setright on his Seeley-framed CBX. Dunno who was the better rider, but I just walked away from him in the hills outside Austin (Tx), and mine had a 6-into-1 enhaust that made better sounds. Seems like yesterday...but it was about 40 years ago. I miss guys like him and my old friend Henry Manney of Road and Track. They ain't making 'em like that no more, and the world's a poorer place for it. Keep the faith.
Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Colin Seeley was a legend, Another forgetten hero
Ducati Monstro originally....later called Monster.
probably right there 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend
Ducati Monster 900...yes.
My one has 110K on the clock but the engine and g/box were rebuilt about 50K ago. So far so good! Unfortunately the electric system (wiring/connectors/joints/earthing points) are showing their age.
Ducati: making Electricians/Mechanics out of Riders since 1946 😂
Glad you found the video mate :-)
Think that the modern MV factory have a more than legitimate claim to exploit the Elefant name. Essentially its the same company operating out of the same Varese factory ,yes we can get into a discussion about the fact the Castiglioni involvement is unfortunately no more and also whether these new Elefants are deserving of the name . However MV do still own the Cagiva name and have teased a revival of it on electric vehicles a few years ago ... i know we are still waiting😒. It was Badge engineering ...a business decision, Castiglioni took the decision that MV was a more prestigious a name to have on the side of his tanks .
Have also always thought that the Castiglioni's and Cagiva never receive(d) the recognition they deserve for the modern revival of Ducati which they orchestrated with the 916 etc.
You could include in your list the Cagiva Mito .. and why no Aprilia's, hopefully some on your next video?
Enjoying the content on your channel . Regards
The Aprilias are coming 🙂 98 on was their decade i think 🙂 as to Cagiva and MV, you do know theres a court case for unpaid debts to both brothers and much more going on, theres 2 KTM/MV videos if your interested. there are no MV's and wont be for at least a while, if ever again. and the only lucky explorers built were to take around the shows, dealers have all been cut off and KTM dont know WTF to do anymore with the mess. With a convicted fraudster on the board there was always going to be hidden problems, but its a mess, luckily we did help getting one guys deposit back
@@barebonesmc Looking forward to the Aprilia's 😀. I did see your excellent upload on the MV saga . The Castiglioni brothers Claudio and Gianfranco are sadly no longer with us .. is the money owed to Giovanni former MV/Cagiva CEO and son of Claudio and the rest of the family? The story of some Italian motorcycle companies is so complicated with boom bust and business chicanery etc that often you could not make some of the stuff up.
I did meet Carl Fogarty a few years ago and asked him what the Castiglioni's were like to work with and recently asked the same question to John Kocinski , when I met him very briefly , they both only had positive things to say .I hope the company can survive . By the way MV are still competing and doing very well in the supersport class in WSBK managing two bikes on the podium last week !
@@crete9699 the team in supersport arent actually run by the factory from what i understand, yes its good its still going, and not as disjointed as the Moto 2 debacle, but for how long who knows. being honest i have never heard much bad said aboout the Castiglioni's. i might not have agreed with many decisions , but they had passion for sure, and thats more than you see in most companies now. from what i understand yes, the money is owed to the families. very specifically to Claudios family for use of his name on the F4 special, the Giovanni debt is not as easy to get info about and it seems a bit convoluted. Cheers for watching mate and welcome aboard
I do like Italian bikes but here in the States, dealerships are few & very far between. Most are from 180 to 400 & upward in miles apart. There's no good dispersion of dealerships that's convenient in any State. And they've closed a lot in the last 7 years. not only Italian bikes but other brands as well. You need some volume on the bikes exhaust notes. All I hear is a little kackle, very little.
Dealerships are getting fewer, bigger and more like car showrooms here too, and re the bikes, it is always a balance, i do my best 🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂
Boss
Cheers for watching and the comment mate, Ride Free
sry none ov them are as sexy as a mk2 triumph speed trip
if we all thought the same it would be a boring world mate, 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂
mo peds ?
??
Thumbs down for clickbait
lol, and what is clickbait about it?
Not watched too many bloody adverts
your choice mate but good videos take time and i dont do sponsorships, theres only 1 ad before and 1 during that youtube puts in, ride free
I more love motorcycles than woman
🙂Cheers for watching mate, ride free
@@barebonesmc Thank you for a great video as always.
@@Igor-my6ml cheers mate, have a good weekend
@@barebonesmc You too.